Chapter 352

Chapter 0352

| sigh in relief. Finally, | was able to prove that Emma isn’t as evil as others believed. My head was killing me, and | just wanted

to sleep. o

“Are we done now?” | asked Brian. “Can | leave? And can she be released?”

“Yes. As for Emma, she'll have to wait a little bit in order for us to process her release papers, but you can leave. | can tell you’re

tired.”

He had no idea just how much he was right. | felt like my damn head was about to explode and leave tiny brain splatters

everywhere.

“Come, I'll take you to the hospital first.” Rowan rises up and gives me his hand. | am hesitant at first, but | place my hand in his.

“| don’t want to go to the hospital, Rowan. | want to go home and rest.”

He was about to argue when Emma interrupted in a timid voice. It was so unlike her. The changes that she’d undergone kept

surprising. Emma isn’t the same girl who ran away from her heartbreak years ago. She also isn’t the same woman who came

back years later. This new version of her just seemed defeated and lost.

“Can | please talk to Ava privately?” She finally asks.

Rowan turns to me, and | nod my head. | was interested in knowing what she wanted to talk about. Let’s just say my curiosity got

the better of me.

They walk out, and soon it’s just me and Emma. It feels kind of weird, given that we haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye since she

came back.

“| just wanted to thank you, Ava. You didn’t have to; you could have believed | was guilty just like everyone else, yet you didn’t. I’ll

always be grateful for what you've done for me today. | know if it wasn’t for you, | would have probably gone to prison,” she

finally says after a while.

“It's nothing, Emma. | was just doing the right thing. You didn’t deserve to go to prison for something you didn’t do.”

“You don't get it; it’s not nothing,” she announces fiercely, standing up. “After everything I’ve done to you since | came back, you

could have hidden that information. You could have pretended like you didn’t know the truth. You could have kept quiet about

your discovery, yet you didn’t. So | thank you for that.”

| get what she was saying. If | were a malicious person, | would have done the same, but with my memory back comes the

remembrance of that day she took a bullet for me. She didn’t have to, but she did anyway.

1/3

Instead of arguing, | just nod my head. | guess we are now even.

“| also wanted to say I’m sorry.” Now that shocks me, stupid. | didn’t expect that.. “I’m sorry for everything | put you through since

coming back. The threats, snide remarks, and being an overall bitch. | just hated you so much, but more than that, | was jealous

of you. You had Rowan’s attention without even trying, while | had to struggle to keep it on me.”

“Emma...”

>>

“No, Ava. It’s true. | behaved like a total bitch because | wasn’t Rowan’s center of attention. | should have realized that whatever

we shared was long dead. | should have let go the moment | realized that his heart no longer belonged to me, instead of taking it

out on you.”"@

| squeeze her hand, and then she continues. “I know we'll never be best friends or anything like that, but | hope our enmity can

end. | don’t want to keep hating you for something that happened a decade ago. I’m tired of carrying that burden.”

| search for the place where my bitterness towards Emma used to be, but it’s completely empty. | no longer hate her or feel

jealous of her. I’m at peace.

completely empty. | no longer ha

“And I’m sorry, Emma.” | tell her sincerely. “I never should have slept with your boyfriend.”

“| was immature, and | loved Rowan so much | could barely see straight. | shouldn’t have let my obsession go that far. | was

drunk that night when it happened, but that’s no excuse. I’m really sorry; | know you probably won't believe it, but | never meant

to hurt you.”

This time, she falls into my arms and hugs me, crying. | can’t stop myself when my tears start pouring. After a while, we pull

away from each other.

“That’s all | ever wanted to hear you say,” she tells me, trying to master a smile.

“I'm sorry it took so long” | chuckle- cry “But you didn’t make it easy for me when you ran from this city for ten years, and when

you came back, you were a complete bitch.”

She laughs, and this time it’s genuine. For a while, it’s like she’s forgotten her problems.

“Thank you, Ava.”

“Hey, you saved my life and that of Iris... I'll always owe you for that.” | smile and

Unable to hold it in, | yawn. | was so freaking tired.

“| should let you go; you look pretty tired,” she says, standing up.

| stared at her for a while before saying anything. “Have faith, Emma, and stay strong. Everything will eventually work out.”

She nods her head, and | stand up. | open the door and leave, feeling a little lighter than when | came in.

“You're ready to go,” Rowan falls into step next to me.

“Yes”

“Ill drive you.”

“I'll drive myself, Rowan. Besides, I’m not going to your house; I’m going to mine,” | inform him. “I'll be by to pick up Iris and Noah

later.”

“Please, Ava.” He begs, his unshed tears grinding my heart into minced meat. ” Don’t leave, please.”

“I need time, Rowan,” | breathe out. “I need to think. | can’t do that with you around me.”

| don’t wait for him to say anything. | climb into my car, tears running down my face.

| never stopped loving Rowan, even when | pretended | did, but now | needed to make a decision. Can | truly forgive him, let go

of the past, and move on with him? Or is it better to leave him and the past where they belong?